Ofelia García - Translanguaging
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses the concept of translanguaging, emphasizing its importance for bilingual education. It highlights that bilinguals use a unified language repertoire rather than separate languages, and that translanguaging empowers speakers by eliminating language hierarchies. The script calls for a shift in educational practices to include the full linguistic repertoire of bilingual students, advocating for a more equitable approach that acknowledges and validates their language practices. It also outlines the need for a stance that goes beyond traditional language teaching, focusing on the transformative potential of translanguaging for identity and learning.
Takeaways
- 🌐 Translanguaging is the practice of using language as a unified system for meaning-making, rather than as separate languages.
- 👶 The concept of translanguaging was inspired by observing bilingual children and their natural language use in classrooms.
- 🏛 It challenges the traditional view of language as fixed and separate entities, emphasizing the fluidity of bilingual language use.
- 🌟 Translanguaging empowers bilingual speakers by recognizing their full linguistic repertoire instead of just the 'named languages'.
- 🎓 In education, translanguaging can lead to more equitable teaching and assessment practices for bilingual students.
- 🔄 Translanguaging involves a shift from viewing languages hierarchically to recognizing the integrated language practices of bilingual individuals.
- 🏫 A translanguaging classroom validates both community practices and those sanctioned in schools, offering opportunities for students to use their full linguistic repertoire.
- 💡 The importance of translanguaging lies in its potential to address social justice issues and create a more level playing field for language minority students.
- 🛠️ Implementing translanguaging in the classroom requires a stance that goes beyond traditional language teaching, focusing on the integration and transformation of language features.
- 🧩 Translanguaging is not just about scaffolding understanding for new learners but also about transforming the identity and subjectivity of bilingual students.
- 🌱 The practice of translanguaging encourages the development of a unitary bilingual voice, which is unique to each individual and not simply a combination of separate languages.
Q & A
What is the concept of translanguaging?
-Translanguaging is the practice of using language as a unitary meaning-making system, where bilingual speakers select from their full linguistic repertoire to communicate effectively, rather than seeing their languages as separate entities.
Why is it important to consider translanguaging in education?
-Considering translanguaging in education is important because it acknowledges the full linguistic repertoire of bilingual students, allowing them to use their language skills more effectively and fairly in both learning and assessment.
What does the speaker mean by 'unitary repertoire'?
-The 'unitary repertoire' refers to the complete set of linguistic resources that a bilingual person possesses, from which they draw upon to communicate, rather than having separate and distinct languages.
How does the concept of translanguaging challenge traditional language hierarchies?
-Translanguaging challenges traditional language hierarchies by rejecting the idea that some languages are dominant or superior to others. It emphasizes the power of the speaker to use all available linguistic features without hierarchy.
What is the difference between multilingualism and translanguaging?
-Multilingualism often refers to the existence of multiple languages in a hierarchical structure, with a dominant language and others that are secondary. Translanguaging, on the other hand, views language as a unified system without such hierarchies, focusing on the speaker's ability to use all linguistic features.
What is the significance of the child's quote 'English rules my veins' in the context of translanguaging?
-The child's quote signifies the deep integration of language in their identity, suggesting that language is not just a tool for communication but also a part of who they are, which is a key concept in understanding translanguaging.
Why is it crucial to validate bilingual community practices in the classroom?
-Validating bilingual community practices in the classroom is crucial because it respects and incorporates the natural way bilinguals communicate, which is through translanguaging, and it promotes a more inclusive and effective learning environment.
What are the three components of a translanguaging classroom?
-The three components of a translanguaging classroom are stance (the beliefs and attitudes towards language), design (the structure and organization of the classroom to support translanguaging), and shifts (the dynamic adjustments made during teaching to accommodate translanguaging).
How does translanguaging address issues of social justice in education?
-Translanguaging addresses social justice by ensuring that bilingual students are not disadvantaged by assessments and teaching that only consider a part of their linguistic repertoire, thus promoting a more equitable educational experience.
What is the 'juntos dance' mentioned in the script, and what does it represent?
-The 'juntos dance' is a metaphor for the collaborative and integrated use of language features in translanguaging. It represents the idea that all linguistic features work together harmoniously, contributing to the bilingual individual's complex and dynamic identity.
How does the concept of translanguaging relate to the idea of an idiolect?
-Translanguaging relates to the idea of an idiolect by emphasizing that each speaker has a unique linguistic repertoire that is shaped by their personal experiences and interactions, which they draw upon to communicate in a personalized way.
Outlines
🌐 Understanding Translanguaging
The speaker introduces the concept of translanguaging as a holistic approach to language use, emphasizing that bilingual individuals draw from a single, unified linguistic repertoire rather than switching between distinct languages. They highlight the importance of recognizing bilinguals' language as an integrated system, which challenges the traditional societal perspective of separate, named languages. The speaker's experience as a bilingual teacher informs this view, with insights gained from observing children's natural language use in the classroom. The summary also touches on the limitations of viewing language through a hierarchical lens, suggesting that translanguaging offers a more inclusive and accurate representation of bilingualism.
🌟 Empowering the Speaker through Translanguaging
This paragraph delves into the empowerment of bilingual speakers through translanguaging, which removes the power from nation-states and standardized languages and places it firmly with the speaker. The speaker discusses the idea of an 'idiolect', a personal language repertoire that each individual shapes, and how translanguaging allows for the full expression of this repertoire in communication. The classroom is metaphorically referred to as 'Rams' language', indicating the ever-present nature of translanguaging in multilingual settings. The paragraph also emphasizes the importance of recognizing and leveraging translanguaging in education for social justice, arguing that failing to do so results in an unfair assessment and instruction of bilingual students.
📚 Translanguaging in the Classroom: The How and Why
The speaker outlines the importance of incorporating translanguaging in educational practices, focusing on the 'why' behind this approach. They argue that ignoring translanguaging can lead to educational injustice, as it limits the linguistic capabilities of bilingual students. The paragraph discusses the necessity of a shift in educational paradigms to account for translanguaging, including the need for teachers to adopt certain stances, such as going beyond named languages and considering the construction of a unitary bilingual voice. The speaker also introduces the concept of 'juntos', or together, to describe the collaborative and transformative potential of translanguaging in the classroom.
🌱 Translanguaging as a Transformative Educational Practice
In the final paragraph, the speaker discusses the transformative nature of translanguaging, positioning it as a practice that goes beyond simple language switching to a deeper engagement with language and identity. They emphasize that translanguaging is not just about scaffolding understanding for students but about transforming their sense of self and language capabilities. The speaker also touches on the broader implications of translanguaging, suggesting that it can help to redress power imbalances and challenge colonial and nation-building narratives that have shaped traditional language conceptions.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Translanguaging
💡Unitary Language Repertoire
💡Bilingual
💡Epistemology
💡Multilingualism
💡Plurilingualism
💡Language Hierarchies
💡Idiolect
💡Social Justice
💡Assessment
💡Transformative
Highlights
Translanguaging defined as using language as a unitary meaning-making system for bilingual speakers.
Bilinguals select from a single language repertoire, not separate languages, to communicate effectively.
The concept of translanguaging was inspired by observing children in bilingual classrooms.
External societal perspective sees languages as separate, standardized entities.
Internal perspective of bilinguals views language as an entanglement of cultural and linguistic practices.
Translanguaging emphasizes the importance of the speaker's language repertoire over named languages.
The difference between multilingualism, plurilingualism, and translanguaging in terms of language hierarchy and power.
Translanguaging removes language hierarchies and empowers the speaker, not the nation-state.
The importance of recognizing the bilingual child's epistemology in teaching and assessment.
Translanguaging classrooms validate both community practices and those sanctioned in schools.
The injustice of not considering translanguaging in education, leading to unfair treatment of language minority children.
Translanguaging as a transformative process that goes beyond scaffolding for understanding.
The necessity of a shift in teaching and assessment practices to include translanguaging.
Three components of a translanguaging classroom: stance, design, and shift.
Beliefs necessary for a translanguaging stance, including going beyond named languages.
Translanguaging as a means to construct a unitary bilingual voice and transform student subjectivity.
Translanguaging's role in redressing power differentials and challenging coloniality of power in language conceptions.
Translanguaging as dwelling in borderlands, not just crossing borders, to embrace linguistic and cultural entanglement.
Transcripts
[Applause]
so what is translanguaging why
translanguaging is using language as a
unitary meaning making system of the
speakers that what we have to remember
is that translanguaging it's always with
all of us who are bilinguals right you
may be hearing what you think is English
now but I am selecting from my unitary
repertoire signs that you say they're
English and I recognize this English
right but so it's not that English and
Spanish do not exist it is that from my
own perspective what I have is I have
one language repertoire from which I
select features that are appropriate to
communicate so and this was given to me
by a child cause always children know
best and it's important to know that I
didn't think of this in my head I saw
this because I started out as a
bilingual teacher and all my life I've
worked in classrooms with teachers and I
would go in and the teachers would say
or today I'm teaching in Spanish and
then I would go in and the children were
using their entire language repertoire
the teachers were sometimes and also
using English and when I asked one child
one day well what is happening here he
said to me well even though Spanish from
through my heart
English rules my veins and I thought
okay we have to think then how do we
teach this bilingual child so that it's
a whole system it is not separate as we
see it right so just to review just
remind you there are two perspectives
one is the external societal perspective
from which we say there are two
named languages named languages as
standardized conventions that belong to
nation states and this is important and
that schools teach and test so they're
very important now notice I'm not saying
that they're not important I'm saying
that they are important
except we cannot start there if we start
there we are not starting from the
epistemology of a bilingual child right
if we start there it doesn't work we are
talking about the internal perspective
of the speaker the language as a unitary
meaning making system of speakers that
is always with them and that reflects
this entanglement of world's cultural
practice and words linguistic practices
in which all bilinguals
are always immersed right and that I'm
saying that that is most important and
what we do in schools is we emphasize
that part and ignore the language
repertoire of the child right so I'm
saying that both are important but I'm
saying that this is most important and
that's what we miss sometimes right so I
just want to sort of think about these
three concepts that we constantly work
with the idea of multi lingual is and
flora lingual ism of translanguaging
multilingualism in the way that we use
it in the United States which I know is
not the way that the European that the
Council of Europe has used but
multilingualism in the way that we use
it refers to someone having a dominant
language an l1 and then having l2 and l3
that are below is a hierarchical
relationship because we're thinking of
what is dominant in society that's goes
first and then the others are afterwards
the plurilingualism concept does better
but they still are they're talking about
languages and I still think they're
talking about bringing together the
European citizens and therefore they
talk about the partial competence that
people could have in second and third
and fourth languages so again there's
still the hierarchy there's still the
power really is in the language right
not in the speaker translanguaging thus
away with the language hierarchies and
returns the power to the speaker not to
the nation-state but to the speaker
what do speakers do and that's why we
have only one box that has no
hierarchical relationships and we're
talking about features that are not that
internal internally we have that are not
l1 and l2 and l3 their ends they're ours
right so features that there are ours
they're the speakers and that we select
as we make ourselves known okay so now
I'm turning into the classroom I have
called it that Rams language in Korean
take the current right because sometimes
we see it sometimes we don't but it's
always there when you work with
multilingual children it's always there
right and I think often it's like being
at the shore you know I love the sea and
I am what I'm not sure I say well where
does a sea begin and where the system
begin depends right and it's the same
with our languages when our languages
are internal we don't know when one ends
and the other begins
right so it's this idea that we're
talking about beyond languages and that
this current is always with us right so
Ricardo especially
talks about the speaker's idiolect
shaping their own language repertoire we
all have an idea left right that is ours
and this of course is also surrounded by
this communicative repertoire so it's
not only our linguistic repertoire which
is related to our idiolect but also how
we surrounded by gestures by context by
other ways of making meaning and how we
bring that forth as hints so that you we
select what it is that is important so
that you here construct or not a message
I hope that you're constructing a
message but I don't know right I I speak
I hope that you might select science and
I hope give you hints of what you should
be thinking about but you are
constructing a message or not right okay
so that's what translanguaging is about
translanguaging is that act that takes
you into a translanguaging space space
when we deploy we deploy the features of
our four repertoire
ah and that then there's a transaction
between the interlocutors right so
that's that's the idea so what is a
translanguaging classroom that a
translanguaging catalyst room then takes
into account the students unitary
linguistic system and gives
opportunities to deploy their full
linguistic repertoire and not only the
particular name languages right so both
things and it validates the bilingual
community practices as well as those
sanction in schools because it's
important to remember that all bilingual
communities trans language it is the
norm in bilingual communities to do it
this way right it's just school
that do not allow the children to to do
it right
so why translanguaging what is it and
how is it done so I think it's very
important to first always remember the
why right because without the why
doesn't make any sense any of the work
we do does not make any sense so one of
the important things is to make sure
that we understand that when
translanguaging is not taken into
account you are doing injustice to the
children to language minorities children
you are not being fair you are not
thinking of social justice you are not
thinking of how to make the situation
more equal so one thing is that when you
teach them you're only mobilizing less
than half of their repertoire you're
leaving
another big part away not considering it
and I think even more important when you
assess them when you test them you are
testing them in less than half of their
repertoire so it's very important to
remember that this shift that has to
take place has to take place because if
you don't take translanguaging into
account you are instructing the children
with less than half of the repertoire
and you're assessing only less than half
of their repertoire so of course they're
always going to do poorer than
monolingual children because monolingual
children are being assessed with almost
their full repertoire almost because
sometimes not all but almost a full
repertoire with our bilingual children
you're only assessing less than half of
it so you know I I say well it's like
assessing drummers someone plays with
the two hands the other one only plays
with one and you're thinking that the
sound has to be the same impossible
right so I think it's important to think
of the why but then the what and in the
translanguaging classroom we talk about
three
components one the stands that is the
belief the attitude that you have to
have because before you start teaching
you have to have a stance you have to
have a belief positions right the second
thing is a design how do you design a
classroom so that you can really make
this work
and the third thing is a shift because
if even after you're designing
classrooms even after you've gotten your
lesson plan even after you have grouped
the students so that they can work
together there are times in teaching
which after all of you know will teach
well you have to change right so there
has to be shifts and and it's important
to think of when the ships have to occur
so let me first start with a stance with
a belief right one belief is that you
have to go beyond the name languages
right oh the name languages themselves
are not enough another belief is that
you have to think of how to construct a
unitary bilingual voice that is their
own not just the languages isolated
another belief is that this has to be
done not only for scaffolding teachers
often believe in translanguaging right
away as a scaffold as a way of
facilitating meaning for students but
what they have a hard time doing is
thinking of what are the transformations
that take place through translanguaging
right so I think I always like to talk
about not the scaffolding part not not
translanguaging for the child who came
in yesterday and therefore you have to
use translanguaging cause otherwise he
or she doesn't understand what's going
on but for the child was already
bilingual how do you transform the sense
of who they are their subjectivity
through translanguaging so we call it
the juntos dance together stands juntos
in Spanish means to get
there and one of the things and so these
are the four stances that we work with
so that the teachers understand that the
bilingual students do not have except
separate name languages but that these
all the features work juntos right they
work together that they also are not
simply two different people that they do
not have two separate identities if
you're gonna stay you have one identity
one identity that is complex and dynamic
and that shifts but it's one identity
and you have to remember that there is
this whom to identity the other thing is
that there is no second language
acquisition in the traditional sense but
that what we are doing is we are helping
students acquire 'unto the the old
features and the new features so that
they can then create they can
appropriate these new features into
their own language repertoire so it's
not that of the other it's not that of
the Germans is not that of the Americans
it is their own right so that's that's
one thing and then the idea that it's
not simply a scaffold but that it could
be transformative just to end and to
summarize so translanguaging has to do
with dwelling in the border in these
border lands with a linguistically
minoritized it has to it's important
because it redresses the power
differentials and the systems of control
that have been installed in the
conceptions of languages and sign
systems by colonial expansion and
nation-building secondly it is not
simple border crossing
but dwelling in the world and the word
entangled through and by the coloniality
of power and and thirdly it's going
beyond name languages you don't
[Applause]
you
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